The Maternal Experiences of Child Care with Fever: a Qualitative Study

BackgroundOne of the most common symptoms of diseases in infancy period is fever, and the concerns occurred could lead to encouraging parents to control fever as soon as possible. This study has been conducted to explore experiences of mothers caring children with fever.Materials and MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. The data were collected through 14 unstructured individual interviews with a purposive sampling among the mothers having children with fever admitted to pediatric ward of Shahid Sadoughi hospital, Yazd-Iran. Data analysis was performed on a continuous and consistent comparisons basis.ResultsThe mean and standard deviation of variables of mothers’ age (year), length of hospitalization of children (day), and age of children with fever (year) were 5.17 ± 28.25, 2.7 ± 4.2, and 2.3 ± 1.7, respectively. The experiences of participants were revealed in three themes of "concern penetration", "in search of fever control", and "discomfort".ConclusionSince the occurrence of fever is associated with concerns of parents and self-medication to control fever and discomfort of mothers, it is essential for the health care providers to design and implement the appropriate family-centered interventions to improve awareness and the performance of parents.